"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut

In "Harrison Bergeron" Kurt Vonnegut depicts a society in which everyone is mentally, physically, and socially equal. Throughout the history of our country, Americans have sought racial, gender, and socio-economic equality. On paper such a society seems ideal. Through the story one might infer that Vonnegut views the concept of total equality as ludicrous. Equality can be interpreted many ways. One point of view is the American belief that everybody should be treated equally and another view is the one represented in the story that everybody is equal. I completely agree with Mr. Vonnegut's view of the perfect society as being absurd.

Having everybody equal looks fantastic in planning but it would never work out that way. If the government was allowed to impose handicaps on the naturally gifted, how could civilization ever make advancements? The great thinkers would not be able to envision new ideas because of the mental handicap radios they had to wear in their ears. Technology would come to a stand still with the gifted not being able to finish a complete thought because of the sharp sounds produced by the mental handicaps. With the handicaps imposed there would not the breakthroughs that are needed to improve the population's way of life. Suppose someone did not have the ability to invent the automobile. It would be difficult to commute to school or work. Imagine if you had to walk to work every day no matter how bad the weather is. Now-a-days people complain about having to simply walk out to their car in the morning and wait for it to warm up. Many jobs would have never been created if there were not any cars. Without technological advancements, the economy would also come to a stand still.

If new goods and services were not being produced, the economy could not survive. Monopolies would eventually form and eliminate competition because new and improved products would not be replacing the old and obsolete products. The formation of these monopolies...

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...Individualism is a very important thing in everyone's life, its part of our personality as portrayed in the story called, "HarrisonBergeron" by KurtVonnegut, Jr. Taking away that individualism is taking apart some of that person. The book in many ways shows what would happen if no one was different and all the people in the world were the same, or basically how disastrous. One example is when the Bergeron's were watching TV and the announcer came on to announce. He started out enthusiastically and with fire, but automatically got a shock. He tried to act out and be the announcer man with energy, but since everyone was the same he just gave up and let the ballerina read the announcements in monotone voice. Now I for one would never want to hear n announcer that talked in one tone the whole entire time. I addition Vonnegut shows another example is how all the smart and beautiful people have to wear mental and physical handicaps. They wear those handicaps because the government wanted to make everyone equal. So basically if you were even a little bit smart, you would get a handicap and that went with physical attributes too. Finally, the author uses the character Harrison as how most people should act, but being someone different. He acted out and rebelled against the government when they were forcing everyone to be the same. Instead of going with the flow he chose to be himself, and...

...futuristic short story, “HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr., the world is finally living up to America’s first amendment of everyone being created equal. In this society, the gifted, strong, and beautiful are required to wear handicaps of earphones, heavy weights, and hideous masks, respectively. Thus, these constraints leave the world equal from brains to brawn to beauty. With the world constantly pushing for equality among people, Vonnegut reveals a world that society is diligently working toward. Through this foreshadowing of the future, Vonnegut attempts to use Diana Moon Glampers and HarrisonBergeron as mechanisms to reveal and warn of the dangers of the two extremes--too equal or too unjust.
Diana Moon Glampers, the Handicapper General, symbolically portrays the idea of fairness in a society. She is the one in charge of lowering the capacity of a bright and intelligent person to the level of a normal and unaware being. In the beginning of the story, the reader is given a picture of the world that Diana Moon Glampers watches upon:
The year was 2081, and everybody was finally equal. They weren't only equal before God and the law. They were equal every which way. Nobody was smarter than anybody else. Nobody was better looking than anybody else. Nobody was stronger or quicker than anybody else. All this equality was due to...

...The agonizing and frustrating normal world in which “HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr. shows a civilization in which being normal is the only life style that people can live. Beauty is not beauty in this story; in fact it is the complete opposite. Can someone reach their full potential without feeling good about themselves? Is it possible to live life in a world like this? Potential, freedom, and beauty are all abominations in the society of “HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr., but they are all but abolished in this generation of “normal people” where being unique is deemed as illegal. No one is better, everyone is worse. But in a world where the extraordinary is outlawed, only the outlaws are extraordinary.
For “HarrisonBergeron”, you have very little freedom in this story. There is no possible way to liberate yourself from this society. So what does someone that is extraordinarily above average do? He rebels. Freedom isn’t a strategy, it’s a goal and “HarrisonBergeron” knows this. Total equality is not something that is worth striving for as many people believe, what this would actually lead to would be the society that is seen in this story. To achieve physical and mental equality among all Americans, the government in Vonnegut’s story tortures its citizens causing everyone’s freedom to be...

...to do so throughout history. The author KurtVonnegut uses the influence of technology in many of his short stories. In the short story “Welcome to the Monkey House,” “HarrisonBergeron,” and “EPICAC” there is a common theme of dehumanization from technology/science and authority. KurtVonnegut also uses literary elements and techniques that are common in all three of these short stories. Some techniques and elements such as characterization, style, conflict, setting, and or course the theme of his stories.
In Kurt Vonnegut’s short story “Welcome to the Monkey House” technology and authority play a vital role. “Vonnegut never abandons his theme of…science and technology and its social impact on society” (“The Role of Technology in Kurt Vonnegut’s Writing”). The setting of this story is sometime in the future like much of Kurt Vonnegut’s other stories. In the story it says, “So the world government was making a two-pronged attack on overpopulation” (Vonnegut, 30). This is one time in which the government is brought up as a common theme in Vonnegut’s work. Technology plays a role when it comes to the pills that the people in this short story have to take in order to take the pleasure out of sex. In the story it also says, “The pills were so effective that you could blindfold a man who had taken one, tell him to...

...Mrs. Pound
English II Pre-AP R2
7 October 2014
Bergeron is a threat in “HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr.
In KurtVonnegut Jr, story “HarrisonBergeron” everyone is programed to be equal. Rules are so meticulous, that is mandatory to follow the rules which all regard to an averagely equal life. In a dystopian society like that the protagonist, 14 year old HarrisonBergeron is a threat to his society. This is primarily a result of his natural superior characteristics that make him differ alarmingly from his fellow people in society.
The main charcater’s physical characteristics are above whatis permitted of his society. 14 year old Harrison. is the anomaly to the society’s belief that no one should be “stronger or quicker than anybody else” (Vonnegut Jr.). The protagonist is above the average in society which makes him a different from the rest. The hero’s difference from society caused him to wear “heavier handicaps” ” (Vonnegut Jr.), that he quickly “outgrows” ” (Vonnegut Jr.). Even though they tried to control his physical capabilities, it did not work in a way that lasts. This is a threat has in a dystopian-like society that he lives in his strength is a bad characteristic. The boy’s handsomeness similar to “Thor’s” (Vonnegut Jr.), was...

...In KurtVonnegut, Jr.’s short story, HarrisonBergeron, everyone is assigned “handicaps” that make them equal to everyone else. These handicaps included wearing weights around the neck, wearing a mask to cover beauty, and having a device in the ear so thinking could not be overdone. “Nobody was smarter than anyone else; nobody was better looking than anyone else; nobody was stronger or quicker than anyone else. All this equality was due to the 211th, 212th, and 213th amendments that were added to the Constitution.” (Vonnegut 369) HarrisonBergeron is a valid representation of the potential control of a government and the repercussions a society could face if every individual were forced to be identical.
The short story is based off of three characters: Hazel, George and HarrisonBergeron. George was forced to wear a device in his ear that prevented him from thinking too much since his intelligence level was above normal. Hazel, on the other hand, “had a perfectly average intelligence, which meant she couldn’t think about anything except in short burst.” (Vonnegut 370) Harrison was their son that was captured at the age of fourteen by the H-G government. Harrison was athletic and handsome. His handicaps included wearing headphones instead of an earpiece, spectacles that nearly made him blind, and about...

...“HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr.
“HarrisonBergeron” by KurtVonnegut Jr. is a story literally exaggerated to its limit by showing, in the near future, what it means to be equal in every way by having people not being able to show any form of intelligence or creativity whatsoever. When HarrisonBergeron breaks the chains of government oppression, he dies for his failed cause. He dies because he chooses not to conform to the rest of his oppressive society. His parents, George and Hazel, who are nothing more than two bodies under the government’s mind control, can do nothing to save their son or seek justice for his death. The story is not only a reflection of the author’s concern with controlling the masses through television, but is also an attack on the idea of enforced equality.
The use of television of controlling people is a major theme in “HarrisonBergeron.” Vonnegut portrays television as a “dehumanizing” process in which people will be unable to think for themselves, instead of developing mental sharpness and clarity. Literary critic Joseph Alvarez says about Harrison’s attempt of overtaking the television station, “Harrison’s power to reach the people and make a new reality (declaring himself emperor), Vonnegut agrees, stems from controlling...

...words, idealism usually implies perfection, while truth implies something harsh and dirty (when it is juxtaposed with idealism). Truth, however, can be literally symbolized as a diamond in the rough, because while it may be pure and beautiful on the inside, it is covered in dirt and other rocks on the outside, that signify its contamination of an ideal society. The short story, HarrisonBergeron, is in accordance to this, since the ideal of total equality is promoted to the point of handicapping the gifted and the talented. The story takes places in 2081, where a futuristic America exists in complete equality in every form. This constraint put on the citizens is an ideal characteristic for the government, but for the people it is a burden that diminishes their identity. Therefore, in HarrisonBergeron, author KurtVonnegut Jr. explores the idea of the rejection of truth in an idealism environment through the use of handicaps and constraints on individuals, the annihilation of rebels and their rebellion, and through the purpose of the government.
Through the use of constraints and handicaps Vonnegut Jr., expresses how truth cannot be accepted in an ideal society and that needs truth to be rejected, in order for an ideal society to exist. Early on in the story, the narrator sets the mellow scene of George and his wife Hazel watching TV and describes him to symbolize the pain...